Niseko New Year skiing

Niseko New Year holidays

Making up for a relatively quiet annual calendar, Niseko pulls out all the stops for a big celebration on New Year’s Eve. Past years have seen the An’nupuri area run free lifts from 8:30pm to 11:15pm, letting you end the year with as much slope-time as is humanly possible. Not to be outdone, Niseko village has previously encouraged skiers to take part in a florescent flare run down the slopes – which is amazing to watch and even better to be part of! Impressive fireworks are almost a given over here, with displays in both the Village and Hirafu - at child-friendly hours and at the stroke of midnight.

On the 1st, the Village gondola traditionally starts operating at 6:30am, letting you witness the first sunrise of the year from high up on the mountain. In Grand Harifu, making tasty Mochi is usually a star attraction in the afternoon, with classes taking place in front of the Alpen Hotel.

The party continues long into the following week, with the East’s snowiest resort hosting seafood preparation festivals, resort-wide yoga sessions, private skiing tours and an Australia Day themed extravaganza in past years. If you’d rather be on the mountain, conditions are usually incredible in late December and early January, with recent years seeing metres and metres of snowfall providing a deep and powdery base to play on.

New Year snow and skiing conditions in Niseko

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